


safe

by britishtwat



Series: avengers fluff stuff :) [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Anxiety, Domestic Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hugs, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, The Ten Rings (Marvel), Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:07:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25577791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/britishtwat/pseuds/britishtwat
Summary: tony struggles. he panics. steve is there. also steve is hot, and tony hates feelings.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: avengers fluff stuff :) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854238
Kudos: 75





	safe

**Author's Note:**

> stony >>> stucky  
> it's da truth xx

the warm stream of water hit tony's back, and he clenched his jaw, his body aching to run, but he forced himself to stay under the water  
years later, it was sometimes still hard for tony to shower, as the gushing water brought back memories of the grimy cave, the only sound echoing around the darkness his own ragged breathing, desperately gasping for air before he was plunged back into the black water.

years later, he still felt the soldiers rough hand on the back of his head, shoving his head deep down into the vat of dirty water.  
he still felt sometimes that he was being held underwater, his limbs thrashing erratically.

this was of those days. the engineer hadn't slept well, something he was used to, but last night he'd been plagued with nightmares of choking in the sea of blackness, nose and throat drowning. 

he'd gone down to his lab, as he frequently did to combat his mind, and set to work on his latest project.

but natasha had come down to check on him, and noticing his filthy state (dum-e had spilled oil all over tony), suggested(forced him really) he take a shower.

he washed as quickly as he could, then wrapped himself in a towel and walked out to his little changing room (his lab was equipped with a mini kitchen and washrooms)

getting changed back into his jeans and old t-shirt, he rubbed his face and tried to ignore the throbbing all over his body that his mind insisted was real  
he threw himself back into his work, but he couldn't focus. he swore he heard dripping

dripping water, echoing around the dingy cave  
he shook his head, and ordered JARVIS to blast some ACDC, and soon he was headbanging furiously as he hunched over his project, fusing small cases of explosive into the tips of some new arrows he was working on for Clint. 

he paused in his action, when he saw tiny drops of water on the arrowhead, and reached up to his unshaven face to feel tears dripping down his cheeks.  
well, that explained why the sparks flying off the metal were slightly blurry, he thought bitterly, wiping his face shakily.

his father's voice echoed in his head as he set down his screwdriver. 'Stark men don't get emotional, Anthony. it's not the way we do it'  
fuck him.  
dum-e whirred uncertainly beside the trembling mechanic.  
with the heavy metal blasting throughout the lab, making tony's eardrums pound, he failed to hear JARVIS's exclamation that "sir, Mr Rogers has entered the labatory" 

"Tony?"  
tony snapped his head up in shock, and upon seeing a pair of concerned blue eyes, he hastily hid his face, wiping his eyes on his shirt.  
"m-music off, please, JARVIS!" he called.  
"you okay, tones?" Steve asked gently, though knowing how alien comfort was to the distressed man in front of him.  
"y-yeah, course, just tired, lots of work to do, I'm a very busy man you know" tony said quickly, his voice not as steady as he would have liked. he stood up, and attempted to 'confidently' saunter over to his workbench

he tried to focus, and started to load up some holograms of the inside of his latest iron man helmet. he started programming, but jumped when he realised steve was standing right behind him. very close behind him.  
"jesus, rogers!" he yelped, clutching his chest dramatically.  
"sorry!" the blonde said, reaching out his hands placantingly.  
tony rolled his eyes, and tried to work yet again, ignoring the hero watching him. he'd leave eventually. 

"are you sure you're alright, tony?"  
tony's heart fluttered upon hearing steve's gentle voice. fuck feelings.  
he hated how powerless he made him feel.  
"its chill, dorito" he said airily. he tapped steve's shoulder (christ, the man had biceps, fuckin hell) with a spanner.  
"you should get going now, see ya"  
steve sighed. "tony, I want to help you"  
"I'm literally fine, capsicle!" tony brushed him off, flashing the worried soldier a fake grin

he turned back round to his designs, breathing unsteady. he swiped furiously through the different combinations he was perfecting, and after a few minutes of flipping through files his breathing began to relax, and he assumed steve had left.  
that was, until he felt something warm behind him  
he turned, arms paused in their work, to see steve's face judt inches from his own. 

oh. 

the man was hugging him.  
"w-what are you doing, cap?" he said, his voice muffled by steves enormous shoulder.  
"shhh" the man replied, arms still wrapped tightly around the shorter man.  
tony couldn't help but sink into steve's warm embrace. he relaxed the arms stiffly poised in the air behind cap, they came to rest on the small of his back. 

he knew he should pull away, and snark something witty, but he couldn't bring himself to leave steve's arms.  
he felt safe.  
"please let me help you, Tony" he heard steve's pleading voice in his ear. 

the soldier held the mechanic gently in his arms as he sobbed, the tears moistening steve's plaid shirt. they stayed like that for ten minutes, steve rubbing tony's back soothingly, murmuring "it's okay, it's okay" in his ear.

tony pulled away slowly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.  
steve ever so carefully reached out a hand, his other still gently resting on tony's waist, and tilted the shorter man's face up to meet his eyes  
steve led tony over to the bunch of couches in the corner of the room and sat across from him. he looked at him, expectantly but respectful.  
tony talked. 

he sat there, looking into steve's comforting blue eyes, and everything just poured out. he got choked up when describing the water torture. out of all the ways they hurt him, the water was the worst. 

he talked about how hard it was to breathe sometimes. how lonely he felt inside.  
discussing the trauma started to bring it all back, and his breathing started to pick up again. he tried to ignore it and go on talking, but it worsened and his throat wouldn't seem to work properly. his breathing ragged, he looked at steve desperately, who was staring at tony with increasing panic. 

"tony, its okay, you're not there, it's okay" steve soothed, tentatively reaching out.  
"can I touch you?" he asked softly, and the gasping man nodded. he heard water splashing, echoing.  
steve took tony's hand, rubbing circles into his hand. "try and breathe with me, yeah?" he exaggerated his inhales and exhales, and was relieved to see tony do so too. 

after a while of that, tony's breathing regulated, and he wilted into steve's warm embrace. he lay there, steves arms around him, until he was ready to talk again.  
he went on about how hard life was after the kidnapping and the betrayal and all the fucked up stuff that had happened to him.  
steve stroked tony's brown curls as he talked. 

when he was finished, he sat there quietly, ready for steve to tell him to man up, or that he was a nutcase, why couldn't he get over something that happened years ago.  
what he didn't expect, was for steve to hug him again.  
it was a lot more desperate this time, like steve was trying to literally force tony to realise he was there, steve was there, he was okay  
and as he sat there, being silently cuddled by captain fuckin america, his throat raw from crying and talking, he felt safe. he felt the safest and the most content he'd ever felt in a long time.  
he felt okay. steve was there.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! if you'd like any more stuff like this let me know :))


End file.
